Optical communication
Optical communication, also known as optical telecommunication, is communication at a distance using light to carry information. It can be performed visually or by using electronic devices. An optical communication system uses a transmitter, which encodes a message into an optical signal, a channel, which carries the signal to its destination, and a receiver, which reproduces the message from the received optical signal. When electronic equipment is not employed the 'receiver' is a person visually observing and interpreting a signal, which may be either simple (such as the presence of a beacon fire) or complex (such as lights using color codes or flashed in a Morse code sequence). Free-space optical communication has been deployed in space, while terrestrial forms are naturally limited by geography, weather and the availability of light. This article provides a basic introduction to different forms of optical communication. History The earliest basic forms of optical communication date back several millennia. While working at at Tohoku University, Japanese engineer Jun-ichi Nishizawa proposed fiber-optic communication, the use of optical fibers for optical communication, in 1963. Nishizawa invented other technologies that contributed to the development of optical fiber communications, such as the graded-index optical fiber as a channel for transmitting light from semiconductor lasers. He patented the graded-index optical fiber in 1964.The Third Industrial Revolution Occurred in Sendai, Soh-VEHE International Patent Office, Japan Patent Attorneys Association The solid-state optical fiber was invented by Nishizawa in 1964.[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2DEEAQAAIAAJ Semiconductor Technologies], page 338, Ohmsha, 1982 The three essential elements of optical communication were invented by Jun-ichi Nishizawa: the semiconductor laser (1957) being the light source, the graded-index optical fiber (1964) as the transmission line, and the PIN photodiode (1950) as the optical receiver. Izuo Hayashi's invention of the continuous wave semiconductor laser in 1970 led directly to the light sources in fiber-optic communication, laser printers, barcode readers, and optical disc drives, commercialized by Japanese entrepreneurs, and opened up the field of optical communication, playing an important role in the communication networks of the future.S. Millman (1983), [http://doc.telephonecollectors.info/dm/BTL_History_Physical_Sciences_1983_op_r.pdf#page=34 A History of Engineering and Science in the Bell System, page 10], AT&T Bell Laboratories Optical communication provided the hardware basis for internet technology, laying the foundations for the Digital Revolution and Information Age. See also * Fiber tapping * Interconnect bottleneck * Jun-Ichi Nishizawa, an inventor of optical communication * Modulating retro-reflector * OECC (OptoElectronics and Communications Conference) * Optical interconnect * Opto-isolator * Parallel optical interface References Citations Bibliography * Alwayn, Vivek. Fiber-Optic Technologies, Cisco Press, Apr 23, 2004. * Bruce, Robert V Bell: Alexander Bell and the Conquest of Solitude, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-8014-9691-8. * * Mims III, Forest M. The First Century of Lightwave Communications, Fiber Optics Weekly Update, Information Gatekeepers, February 10–26, 1982, pp. 6–23. * Paschotta, Rüdiger. Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology, RP-Photonics.com website, 2012. Further reading * Bayvel, Polina Future High-Capacity Optical Telecommunication Networks, Philosophical Transactions: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 358, No. 1765, January 2000, Science into the Next Millennium: Young Scientists Give Their Visions of the Future: II. Mathematics, Physics and Engineering, pp. 303–329, stable article URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2666790, published by The Royal Society. * Dilhac, J-M. The Telegraph of Claude Chappe -An Optical Telecommunication Network For The XVIII Century, Toulouse: Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Toulouse. Retrieved from IEEE Global History Network. Category:Optical communications Category:Telecommunications Category:Japanese inventions